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> highly productive mathematicians like Paul Erdos I think Paul Erdos' stimulant usage has been blown out of proportion. According to his biography, he took "1

> highly productive mathematicians like Paul Erdos I think Paul Erdos' stimulant usage has been blown out of proportion. According to his biography, he took "10 to 20 milligrams of Benzedrine or Ritalin" ( https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/h/hoffman-man.html https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/h/ho... ) which is, believe it or not, lower than a lot of people's commonly prescribed ADHD doses today. Erdos also published a lot of his best works before taking up non-caffeine stimulants, so it wasn't exactly the driving force behind his productivity. Anyone using Erdos to justify an excessive or non-prescribed/non-medical stimulant habit has misunderstood the history. > Steve Jobs swore that it changed him. Steve Jobs was also famously terrible to everyone around him and died prematurely because he firmly believed he could cure pancreatic cancer with an all-fruit diet. Which of his properties are we to ascribe to the mind-altering drugs and which are we to overlook? Again, using Steve Jobs to justify drug consumption (or anything, really) is missing the point that he was a unique person.

Apocryphon 5y ago
Jobs also took acid because he was in the generation where it was commonplace. Gates also did it, too. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-gates-once-coyly-defended-162300612.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-gates-once-coyly-defende...
- thewarrior 5y ago
  And that generation was a powerhouse of business, innovation and culture. Counter culture laid the foundation for what we now call Silicon Valley.
  - WalterBright 5y ago
    Yeah, but that doesn't mean they were high when they were working.
    - twangist 5y ago
      Yeah, but they were when thinking about what to work on.
    - thewarrior 5y ago
      Well actually https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Dormouse_Said https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Dormouse_Said
thewarrior 5y ago
“ Colleagues worried that Erdős might have become addicted. In 1979, he accepted a $500 bet from his friend Ronald Graham. Graham challenged Erdős to abstain from speed for 30 days. Erdős met the challenge, but his output sank dramatically. Erdős felt the progress of mathematics had been held up by a stupid wager. In an article by Paul Hoffman published in November 1987, Atlantic Monthly profiled Erdős and discussed his Benzedrine habit. Erdős liked the article, “…except for one thing…You shouldn’t have mentioned the stuff about Benzedrine. It’s not that you got it wrong. It’s just that I don’t want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics to think that they have to take drugs to succeed.” The truth is far more nuanced. Like I said no one will openly admit to this as it sets a risky example for others.
- WalterBright 5y ago
  I'm sure any addicted person would perform very poorly when undergoing 30 days of withdrawal. I know when I withdraw from caffeine, the next few days are hopelessly unproductive.
  - thewarrior 5y ago
    Sure but what if I decided to ban you from using caffeine and throw you in jail because it’s addictive ?

Apocryphon 5y ago

Jobs also took acid because he was in the generation where it was commonplace. Gates also did it, too. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-gates-once-coyly-defended-162300612.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-gates-once-coyly-defende...

thewarrior 5y ago
And that generation was a powerhouse of business, innovation and culture. Counter culture laid the foundation for what we now call Silicon Valley.
- WalterBright 5y ago
  Yeah, but that doesn't mean they were high when they were working.
  - twangist 5y ago
    Yeah, but they were when thinking about what to work on.
  - thewarrior 5y ago
    Well actually https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Dormouse_Said https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Dormouse_Said

thewarrior 5y ago

“ Colleagues worried that Erdős might have become addicted. In 1979, he accepted a $500 bet from his friend Ronald Graham. Graham challenged Erdős to abstain from speed for 30 days. Erdős met the challenge, but his output sank dramatically. Erdős felt the progress of mathematics had been held up by a stupid wager. In an article by Paul Hoffman published in November 1987, Atlantic Monthly profiled Erdős and discussed his Benzedrine habit. Erdős liked the article, “…except for one thing…You shouldn’t have mentioned the stuff about Benzedrine. It’s not that you got it wrong. It’s just that I don’t want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics to think that they have to take drugs to succeed.” The truth is far more nuanced. Like I said no one will openly admit to this as it sets a risky example for others.

WalterBright 5y ago
I'm sure any addicted person would perform very poorly when undergoing 30 days of withdrawal. I know when I withdraw from caffeine, the next few days are hopelessly unproductive.
- thewarrior 5y ago
  Sure but what if I decided to ban you from using caffeine and throw you in jail because it’s addictive ?